VDJ Recombination A Transposase Goes to Work

ment, producing two coding ends and two signal ends. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Subsequent joiningof thecoding ends, forming a coding Baylor College of Medicine joint, assembles a rearranged TCR or Ig gene segment; Houston, Texas 77030 the signal ends also join, forming a signal joint. †Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics Several features of VDJ recombination are reminisHoward Hughes Medical Institute cent of transposition (Figure 1). First, both reactions Johns Hopkins School of Medicine involve short specific sequences at the ends of the moBaltimore, Maryland 21205 bile segments that are recognized and acted upon by